Old man getting closer to smoke plume (7)
I believe the answer is:
feather
'smoke plume' is the definition.
'feather' can be an answer for 'plume' (synonyms). I'm not certain of the 'smoke' bit.
'old man getting closer to' is the wordplay.
'old man' becomes 'father' (I've seen this before).
'getting' indicates putting letters inside.
'closer to' becomes 'e' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'father' enclosing 'e' is 'FEATHER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for feather that I've seen before include "A white one denotes cowardice" , "thing of little importance" , "trifling thing" , "Part of a bird's plumage" , "One of a bird's waterproof covering" .)